Just got back from visiting friends in Michigan and while we were there they took me to Famous Dave's. I'm not sure which suburb of Detroit it was in. My friend lives in Wayne and it was about 20 minutes from his house. So best location I can give is 20 minutes from Wayne... hehe

I had the 2-Meat (Chopped Pork & Ribs[nekkid]) and added a hotlink with coleslaw and potato salad.

The chopped pork was really good. Moist and flavorful.

I had never had a hotlink like they serve before and while I didn't find it very spicy. It was very good and I'd like to know where they get them.

The ribs were awful. I took 2 bites, hoping the second would be better than the first, and gave up on them. They were way overcooked and had a consistency like sawdust. They did have good flavor however so I was doubly disappointed that I couldn't choke them down.

I also tried my wife's brisket and have to say it was pretty tasty. It appeared to have been injected because it had a really nice flavor all the way through it as well as a nice smoke flavor. Wish I had ordered it instead of the ribs.

The coleslaw was pretty good and the potato salad while being good wasn't the style I prefer. I like a little mustard in my potato salad and this appeared to be mayo only. So I can't say it wasn't good potato salad. Just that it didn't suit my taste in potato salad. The consistency of it was great and it was appealing to the eye.

I also sampled all of their sauces. My favorites were Texas Pit and Devil's Spit but I thought they were all good sauces. I really loved the cumin flavor of the Texas Pit sauce.

All in all I'd give Famous Dave's my patronage again next time I'm in Wayne. Everything was tasty with the exception of the ribs. I'll not order them again.

I also have to say I'm jealous of any of you lucky enough to live in that area. My friend took me to Cattlemen's to pick up some brats to cook for dinner. I thought I had walked into heaven when I opened the doors to their meat locker. I have never seen anything like that place in Oklahoma. It was truly an incredible sight to behold. _________________I only believe in two basic food groups... Chili & BBQ
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the first time I ever ate at a Famous Daves, was in Hayward Wisconsin (way up north, west of me by 100 miles) and i thought it was pretty good,

I have eaten at 2 or 3 other locations and they were all crap. We went back to the northern WI location and it is still good.

here is what I think the inconsistency problem is;

you could give 10 different cooks the exact same recipe & ingredients, explain what the finished product is supposed to be like, and end up with 10 completely different things.

if Famous daves starts centralizing their cooking, and ships cooked product out, then the might have a consistent product between locations.
I did not say good, I said consistent. huge difference)
at least this way you know what to expect._________________Just remember that the toes you may step on during your climb to the top will also be attached to the a$$es you'll be forced to kiss on your way back down!

I agree. It's hard to duplicate some food with the same person cooking it.

As a chili cook. Even following the same recipe. My chili's never really come out exactly the same. They always come out consistently good but there is always some difference due to meat, spices, quality of the broth, etc... I grind my own powders so the quality of the peppers I am able to find can change the taste.

I talked to my friend in Wayne and he said there are 2 Famous Dave's within 20 minutes of his house and that the one we ate at was in Taylor._________________I only believe in two basic food groups... Chili & BBQ
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Ate at the FD in Novi last week. Bartender informed me that no grilled items were available as there was a problem with the local natural gas utility. Didn't bother me as I wasn't there for a burger. I ordered pulled pork and brisket. The former was pretty good but the brisket was obviously at least a day old--grey, couldn't even see the smoke ring, poor texture. I've had acceptable brisket at this one and the Westland location before, so this is just another testimonial to the fact that it's so hard for a chain like this to be consistent and reliable. I did have to wonder if the gas outage somehow compromised their ability to have freshly-smoked items available???? Maybe a little cheating going on back in the kitchen?

A Famous Dave's restaurant opened here in Colorado Springs earlier this year. I've never been able to spot a woodpile or any indication that they even had a smoker. What little smoke I've seen smelled like it was from their grill. So I assumed that they cooked their que at a Corporate location then shipped it to the franchises.

Several of us have been going there for Happy Hour on Tuesdays for a while since they have 20oz microbrews for $2.49 which is a "smokin" deal. The other day we were in there and the manager stopped by our table because he noticed that we were coming in pretty regularly. We started chiding him about the que, and he claimed that it was all cooked on-premises. I asked him to show us their smoker - he happily took us into the kitchen where they had a very large Southern Pride unit! It was installed so that it was partially indoors and partially outdoors. They had a small woodpile of hickory out back in an enclosed area not visible from the parking lot which is why we were never able to see it.

There are several BBQ joints in the Springs, the majority of them are quite bad so Famous Dave's is certainly one of the best here.

I guess I'm lucky because Famous Dave's doesn't even make my top 20 list of BBQ joints here in Kansas City. I went there 5 years ago to "try it" and thought there are at least 20 places off the top of my head here in KC that have much better and authentic BBQ rather than something more commercialized. I remember when Tony Roma tried to come and sell his ribs here in KC. We flat ran him out out business/town within 6 months 5 years ago, never to be heard of again around here._________________KCBS Master Judge

their normal rib place was "Carson's, the place for ribs" and they said they will never eat at Carsons again.

Another thing that may be happening with non-locally originating chain places too.

BBQ is one of the most regionally adapted foods their is, what the texans consider good BBQ, would be considered garbage in the southeast, and it goes both ways.

The generally practiced way of cooking ribs up here in snow country is for most people to boil them first, and then just finish them on the grill or in the oven.

people just expect mushy grey meat around here. That is probably one of the reasons I never get too many requests for ribs. They are afraid to try ribs cooked low & slow with nothing but smokey moist heat. they don;t know what they are missing._________________Just remember that the toes you may step on during your climb to the top will also be attached to the a$$es you'll be forced to kiss on your way back down!

Just got back from visiting friends in Michigan and while we were there they took me to Famous Dave's. I'm not sure which suburb of Detroit it was in. My friend lives in Wayne and it was about 20 minutes from his house. So best location I can give is 20 minutes from Wayne... hehe

I had the 2-Meat (Chopped Pork & Ribs[nekkid]) and added a hotlink with coleslaw and potato salad.

The chopped pork was really good. Moist and flavorful.

I had never had a hotlink like they serve before and while I didn't find it very spicy. It was very good and I'd like to know where they get them.

The ribs were awful. I took 2 bites, hoping the second would be better than the first, and gave up on them. They were way overcooked and had a consistency like sawdust. They did have good flavor however so I was doubly disappointed that I couldn't choke them down.

I also tried my wife's brisket and have to say it was pretty tasty. It appeared to have been injected because it had a really nice flavor all the way through it as well as a nice smoke flavor. Wish I had ordered it instead of the ribs.

The coleslaw was pretty good and the potato salad while being good wasn't the style I prefer. I like a little mustard in my potato salad and this appeared to be mayo only. So I can't say it wasn't good potato salad. Just that it didn't suit my taste in potato salad. The consistency of it was great and it was appealing to the eye.

I also sampled all of their sauces. My favorites were Texas Pit and Devil's Spit but I thought they were all good sauces. I really loved the cumin flavor of the Texas Pit sauce.

All in all I'd give Famous Dave's my patronage again next time I'm in Wayne. Everything was tasty with the exception of the ribs. I'll not order them again.

I also have to say I'm jealous of any of you lucky enough to live in that area. My friend took me to Cattlemen's to pick up some brats to cook for dinner. I thought I had walked into heaven when I opened the doors to their meat locker. I have never seen anything like that place in Oklahoma. It was truly an incredible sight to behold.

That would be the FD in Westland, about 10 minutes North of Wayne. I go there occasionally in the wintertime when it's too cold to fire up my own cookers. Usually not too bad there- it'll do when the craving for Q hits and theres 10 inches of snow on the ground. Mrs 3StratMan likes the brisket, and I usually get the 1/2 Memphis 1/2 St Louis slab. Sometimes really good, sometimes OK. Like I said, it'll do in a pinch.

Cattleman's is not it's all that it's cracked up to be. Yes, they have a LOT of meat in that cooler, but the problem is that it's all "Select" grade. Clearly notice the difference in quality from "Select" at Cattleman's VS "Choice" grade from Sam's Club. If quality matters to you, skip Cattleman's._________________Home built 110 gallon triple barrel smoker
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I also have to say I'm jealous of any of you lucky enough to live in that area. My friend took me to Cattlemen's to pick up some brats to cook for dinner. I thought I had walked into heaven when I opened the doors to their meat locker. I have never seen anything like that place in Oklahoma. It was truly an incredible sight to behold.

Cattleman's is not it's all that it's cracked up to be. Yes, they have a LOT of meat in that cooler, but the problem is that it's all "Select" grade. Clearly notice the difference in quality from "Select" at Cattleman's VS "Choice" grade from Sam's Club. If quality matters to you, skip Cattleman's.

I agree on Cattleman’s. When I first started smoking, the kids and I referred to Cattleman’s as “the meat playground”. When my first few briskets were disappointing, in addition to improving my technique, I read about people only using Choice or better, staying away from the hit and miss of Select. I then realized that almost everything that Cattleman’s sells is Select. I now shop at Restaurant Depot in Dearborn, where I can choose my grade. They usually have Select, Choice and Angus (a sub-category of Choice?) brisket packers.

FYI, Cattleman’s is a meat/produce store which has a huge walk-in refrigerated meat section, selling packer cuts of just about anything cow and they have butchers on site who will slice your meat into steaks/etc. for free. They also have great selections of all other meats, and some crazy cheap specials sometimes. No connection other than a generally happy customer.

Angus is a breed and a marketing ploy nothing more. (Though I do like it)

Prime, choice, select, and on down are grades, and angus gets graded just like any other breed. There is also that the grade is somewhat of a sliding scale based off what is slaughtered that day._________________22.5 Weber Kettle
OK Joe
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